Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement for details.

Global trends in life insurance policy administration and underwriting

While gross written premiums are starting to recover from the declines at the height of the financial crisis, insurance companies are still finding growth is weak overall— especially in industrialized markets. To protect and grow profits in this environment, insurers are focusing on capturing efficiencies, especially in the policy administration and underwriting area.

This paper explores key trends for life insurers including: increased use of business process outsourcing for closed book operations; the increased adoption of self-service for policy servicing; and the enhanced use of business intelligence analytics for underwriting.

Global trends in life insurance policy administration and underwriting

1.
Global Trends in Life Insurance:
Policy Administration and Underwriting
Key policy administration and underwriting trends and their implications for the
life insurance industry
What you need to know
INSURANCE

3.
After growing in 2010, global life and pensions (L&P) premium volumes contracted by
2.7% (real terms) in 2011, slipping back into the red. However, performance was not
the same across all regions. North America and Asia witnessed positive real growth,
while Europe saw a negative real growth. Profitability also suffered, as lower than
average interest rates and volatile financial markets negatively impacted the profits of
L&P insurers in 2011.
Going forward, global L&P industry growth is projected to remain sluggish in
advanced economies, while the premium growth is expected to improve in emerging
markets. Recovery is predicted to be slow in the U.S. and economic challenges are
expected to continue in Europe due to the protracted sovereign debt crisis. Asia and
Latin America, however, are predicted to continue their growth on account of strong
domestic demand.
Currently, the key trends driving a change in policy administration and underwriting
function are:
• Increasing use of business process outsourcing (BPO) for closed-book operations
• Increasing adoption of self-service for policy servicing
• Enhanced use of business intelligence and analytics for underwriting
Globally, an increasing number of insurers are moving their closed-book operations
to BPO to gain operational efficiencies. As non-core tasks are moved to external
vendors, insurers can shift staffing to more value-added activities.
In addition, insurers are trying to increase self-service adoption to improve profitability
and customer service effectiveness as an increasing number of Gen X and Gen Y
customers1
are using self-service to maintain their insurance policies.
Finally, life insurers are quickly realizing the power of using big data to understand
performance levels and trends in their underwriting practices and therefore
investments in business intelligence (BI) and analytics are rising.
1. Highlights
1 Gen X and Gen Y customers refers to the customer in the age group of 18 to 49 year old
3
the way we see it

4.
2. Introduction
2.1. Global Life Insurance Performance2
The growth in the world economy slowed down again in 2011 after the post-crisis
recovery seen during 2010. In 2011, global real GDP growth weakened to 2.7%
compared to 4.1% in 20103
. This slowdown had a negative impact on the global
insurance industry and direct premiums dropped by 0.8% in real terms—mainly due
to a decline in the life insurance industry. The near term future still looks uncertain
for the global insurance industry due to the ongoing economic challenges in Europe.
However, emerging markets are expected to continue their growth, though at a
slower rate, while North America is expected to witness moderate growth.
While the North American insurance industry did well in 2011, Europe witnessed a
steep decline in premiums due to the sovereign debt crisis. In North America, life
premiums in real terms grew for the first time since 2007, rising 2.3% on improving
economic conditions. On the other hand, premiums in Europe fell drastically by
9.6% in 2011 and declines were observed across the board in Western Europe.
Asia, which recorded the highest growth in 2010—6.9% in real terms—slowed in
2011, recording only 0.5% growth, as China and India put a drag on growth. After
growing strongly in 2010, premium volumes in emerging markets4
declined by 5.1%,
real terms, in 2011, due to steep premium drops in China and India in the wake of
regulatory changes that restricted the use of certain distribution channels.
Growth has also been affected by the steady lapsation rates over the last 10 years
which have created serious persistency5
problems for the global life insurance
industry. Insurers are facing difficulty in coping with low persistency, leading to high
2 World Insurance in 2011,” Swiss Re, May 2012, http://www.swissre.com/media/news_releases/
nr_20120627_sigma_world_insurance_2011.html
3 The Global Outlook in Summary, 2010-2014, World Bank. http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/mai
n?theSitePK=659149&pagePK=2470434&contentMDK=20370107&menuPK=659160&piPK=2470429
4 Latin America, central and Eastern Europe, South and East Asia, the Middle East (excluding Israel),
Central Asia, Turkey, and Africa
5 Persistency in life insurance is defined as the percentage of policies in force at a particular time
Exhibit 1: Global L&P Insurance Premium Volumes
($ billion) and Inflation-Adjusted Growth (%), 2007-11
2,442 2,439 2,367
2,516 2,627
PP Change in Inﬂation Adjusted Growth CAGR Premium Volume
2009-11
5.3%
2007-09
(1.5%)
2009-11
(1.9 PP)
2007-09
(5.9 PP)
-1,000
-2,000
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
20112010200920082007
GWP($bn)
-5
-10
0
5
10
15
InflationAdjustedGrowth(%)
5.1%
(0.8%)
2.9%
(2.7%)
(5.8%)
Inflation Adjusted GrowthPremium
Source: Capgemini Analysis, 2012; Swiss Re Sigma Reports, 2008-12
4 Global Trends in Life Insurance: Policy Administration and Underwriting

5.
pressure on revenue generation. The financial management of insurers is negatively
impacted due to lapses by policy holders, and this trend has led to costlier policies
for customers and, in turn, affects overall revenue growth.
Overall profitability of the industry also remained under pressure as the lower-than-
average interest rates continued in 2011 and weighed on insurers’ investment results.
These low rates combined with volatile financial markets negatively impacted the
profitability of L&P insurers in 2011. Interest rates continued to decrease in North
America and several western European economies hurting investment income,
while financial markets, after performing solidly in the first half of 2011, became
more volatile during the second half due to the European sovereign debt crisis and
deceleration in global economic growth.
Going forward, the global L&P industry growth is expected to remain sluggish in
advanced6
economies, while the premium growth is expected to resume in emerging
markets. Recovery is expected to be slow in the U.S. while economic challenges
in Europe are expected to continue on account of the protracted sovereign debt
crisis. Asia and Latin America, however, are expected to continue their growth due to
strong domestic demand.
2.2. Insurance Value Chain
Insurance operations can be broadly divided into three core elements, representing a
value chain:
• Front Office
• Policy Administration and Underwriting
• Claims Processing and Payout
Along with these three core elements, a range of support functions are also required
to ensure smooth operations of insurance firms, such as finance and accounting,
HR, legal, infrastructure, and asset management.
This paper focuses on the policy administration and underwriting function of the
insurance value chain from a life and pensions perspective. We identify key trends in
this area and the potential impact of these trends on the performance of global life and
pensions industry.
Exhibit 2: Insurance Value Chain
Source: Capgemini Analysis, 2012
Finance and
Accounts
HR Functions Legal Infrastructure
Asset
Management
Core Functions
Support Functions
Front Office
Policy Administration
& Underwriting
Claims Processing
and Payout
6 North America, Western Europe (excluding Turkey), Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
Oceania, and Israel
5
the way we see it

7.
7 Trends shown are not necessarily comprehensive, but have been highlighted due to their relevance and
potential impact on the industry
Gross written premiums (GWPs) are starting to recover from the declines at
the height of the financial crisis, but growth is still weak overall—especially in
industrialized markets. To protect and grow profits in this environment, insurers
are focusing on capturing efficiencies, especially in the policy administration and
underwriting area.
These changes have led to the emergence of the following key trends in the policy
administration and underwriting area for life insurance companies globally7
:
• Increasing use of BPO for closed-book operations: Insurers are moving
their closed-book operations to BPOs to find operational efficiencies, as these
operations are currently often maintained in legacy systems resulting in costly
operations and maintenance challenges.
• Increasing adoption of self service for policy servicing: Insurers are also
trying to increase self-service adoption to improve profitability and customer
service effectiveness since an increasing number of Gen X and Gen Y customers
are using self-service to maintain their insurance policies.
• Enhanced use of Business Intelligence (BI) analytics for underwriting:
Insurers are quickly realizing the power of using big data to understand
performance levels and trends in their underwriting practices and therefore the
investments in BI and analytics are rising—and will likely continue to rise over the
next five years.
3. Emerging Trends in Life Insurance:
Policy Administration and Underwriting
Global Trends in
Life Insurance 2011:
Claims
Global Trends in
Life Insurance 2011:
Front Office
Global Trends in
Life Insurance 2011:
Policy Administration
7
the way we see it

8.
4.1. Background and Key Drivers
Globally, an increasing number of life insurers are looking for new options to reduce
operational costs so outsourcing closed-book operations to BPOs is gaining
momentum. Closed-book outsourcing is when life insurers and pension providers
shift a block of policies, which are no longer being sold, to a third-party provider.
The rationale for outsourcing closed-book operations is that these policies are non-
revenue generating but are still prone to claims and servicing expenses and are often
maintained in legacy systems which results in costly operations and maintenance
challenges.
Closed-book outsourcing has become important among Tier 1 and Tier 2 life
insurers as an opportunity to rid themselves of legacy systems where conversion
is too expensive or risky. This outsourcing allows insurers to find operational
efficiencies, and to shift resources to more value-added activities. Much of the
interest in closed-book initiatives is driven by technology considerations, where
companies identify BPO as an alternative to system replacement or modernization.
The important vendor qualification criteria that insurers should look for are: quality of
services; cost of services; process adherence; and financial stability.
4. Trend 1: Increasing Use of BPO for
Closed-Book Operations
Exhibit 3: Most Important Considerations for Outsourcing
Closed and Open Book Operations, 2012
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Lower Capital
Requirements
Management
Leverage
Quality
Improvement
Operational
Flexibility
Cost Savings
3.5
Very
Important
% of respondents
rating either 6 or 7
Not
Important
4.1
4.6
5.3
5.6 69%
54%
36%
23%
17%
Source: Capgemini Analysis, 2012; World Insurance Report 2012, Capgemini and Efma
8 Global Trends in Life Insurance: Policy Administration and Underwriting

9.
4.2. Analysis
Closed-book operations can be problematic for companies as the business volume
of these systems declines over time and is often maintained on legacy systems,
resulting in high operational expenses and maintenance challenges. As companies
rationalize their product portfolio and focus on improving the bottom-line through
transformation initiatives targeting mainly the policy administration and underwriting
areas, shifting closed-book operations to a BPO provides insurers an opportunity to
get rid of some legacy systems. Outsourcers deliver value by focusing on the design,
implementation, and operation of the most efficient processes for improving insurer
profitability. As a result, insurers around the globe are becoming more comfortable
outsourcing these operations.
However, insurers need to avoid overdependence on a single vendor which could
expose them to potential risks of overpricing, vendor lock-ins, and disruptions based
on operational failure. A badly managed closed-book outsourcing engagement could
impact the servicing of existing end customers—leading to reputation loss in the
market, increased customer attrition, and resultant revenue losses.
4.3. Implications
Closed-book BPO will continue to be important among life insurers over the next
couple of years, with more deals signed, especially in North America. Overall, BPO
adoption rates around the globe vary. The U.K. is currently the most mature in
outsourcing closed blocks to other locations, while many markets have no adoption
for closed-book BPO at all. However, the global trend is that an increasing number
of insurers are moving their closed-book operations to BPOs to find operational
efficiencies, and to shift staffing to more productive value-added activities as tasks
are moved externally.
• Insurers in life insurance, annuities, and pensions should consider BPO
alternatives for closed-book processing, especially if running on legacy systems
that are difficult and expensive to maintain, and where the products are not
considered core to the business.
• BPO firms must demonstrate strong IT skills, domain competency, and operational
expertise to support closed-book processing, as well as to support data
conversion and required system maintenance and upgrades.
• There are many restrictions on moving data and policy holder information to
locations beyond the geographical boundaries of a country. Insurers should watch
for issues like depersonalizing the data8
and having in place adequate measures to
handle privacy of policy holder information.
8 Depersonalizing the data refers to modification of personal data so that the information concerning
personal or material circumstances can no longer be attributed to the customer or policy holder
9
the way we see it

10.
Exhibit 4: Key Drivers for Increasing Adoption of Self-
service for Policy Servicing
Source: Capgemini Analysis, 2012
5.1. Background and Key Drivers
In mature markets, where top line growth has been fairly flat, an insurer’s best bet to
achieve margin improvements is by reducing operational costs. In a bid to decrease
customer service costs, a majority of global insurers are increasingly providing self-
service options to their customers, redirecting customer interactions from branch or
call centers. Online self-service functionalities like online bill payment, checking policy
information, or making policy changes online are also having a significant impact on
customers’ choice of an insurance provider.
In addition to cost savings, mobile self-service is beginning to influence insurance
shopping decisions and will serve as a key differentiator for insurance companies.
Also, as quotation and application functions at many leading insurance companies
have been mostly optimized, insurers are moving on to post-purchase activities like
self-service as a next step of automation. Finally, online self-service also provides
a platform for cross-selling and up-selling, as insurers strive to improve customer
retention by selling more products to existing customers.
However, online self-service in both North America and Western Europe is often
characterized by limited promotion, inadequate content, lack of online functionality,
and poor processes. Many insurance companies are still not aggressively promoting
online self-service and therefore the rate of adoption, while growing, is still low.
Another important reason for the relatively low adoption of self-service channels
is the lack of personalized approach in interactions with the customers. Since the
persistency of a life insurance policy depends on the relationship between the insurer
and the policy holder, personal focus on the customer is still critical.
5. Trend 2: Increasing Adoption of Self-
Service for Policy Servicing
Self-Service
for Policy
Servicing
Online
self-service is
more cost
effective
Online
self-service
influences
customers’
purchase
decisions
Cross Selling
opportunities
Optimization
of online sales
process
10 Global Trends in Life Insurance: Policy Administration and Underwriting

11.
5.2. Analysis
Insurers, globally, are under pressure to improve operating profitability and reduce
expense ratios. In this environment, online self-service provides tangible expense
reduction and return on investment, as insurers can reduce costs, while improving
customer satisfaction, by directing customers to the web, freeing phone lines to
shorten wait times and providing fast online alternatives for customers who prefer
self-service.
As an increasing number of Gen X and Gen Y customers are using self-service to
maintain their insurance policies, online self-service continues to gain momentum in
the insurance industry, but customer adoption remains low. Direct and agent-based
insurers are struggling to increase adoption due to an array of challenges including:
the infrequency of insurance interactions; some customers’ channel preferences;
and limited functionality. However, there has been increased adoption of certain self-
service activities like online bill pay which provide a solid business case for further
online self-service.
5.3. Implications
Globally, insurers are trying to increase self-service adoption to improve profitability
and customer service effectiveness while an increasing number of Gen X and Gen Y
customers are using self-service to maintain their insurance policies.
In order to be effective, insurers have to fully integrate their online self-service into
their overall policy application or purchase process across channels, providing a
consistent and seamless post-purchase experience. However, due to data-related
issues involving legacy systems and integration with modern systems, many
insurance companies have not yet built the functionality required to promote online
self-service.
Going forward, in order to improve expense ratios and differentiate themselves in
an intensely competitive environment, insurers need to aggressively promote online
self-service and address technical issues such as web site functionalities and
data management.
11
the way we see it

12.
Exhibit 5: Drivers for Enhanced Use of Business
Intelligence and Analytics in Underwriting
Source: Capgemini Analysis, 2012
6.1. Background and Key Drivers
Global insurers are placing a lot of emphasis on data mastery using business
intelligence (BI) to empower end users with the information required for better
decision making. Data is one of the most important assets for a life insurance
company; however, most companies do not derive maximum value from their data.
At a global level, very few insurers have aggregated and cleansed data accessible to
their end users for real-time or near real-time underwriting.
In order to improve profitability in an uncertain economic situation, insurers are
demanding better insights and analytics for in-depth assessment of customer
behavior, better risk management, improved underwriting accuracy, and
fraud detection.
Focusing on improved data management and preparing for “big data”9
requirements,
will be key for life insurers during the next few years. Insurers unable to leverage data
assets will be at a significant disadvantage against competitors who have greater
insight into customers, products, performance and underwriting risks.
6. Trend 3: Enhanced Use of Business
Intelligence and Analytics for Underwriting
Drill-down
information
on product
profitability
Risk
management
BI/Business
Analytics
Improved
underwriting
profitability
Real-time
or near real-
time analysis to
respond to new
business
Better
intelligence into
customer and
underwriting
trends
9 “Big Data” refers to to large and complex data which becomes difficult to handle using existing database
management tools
12 Global Trends in Life Insurance: Policy Administration and Underwriting

13.
6.2. Analysis
In a rapidly changing market, life insurance companies worldwide are focusing their
energies to become an informed enterprise. BI and analytics provide a consistent
data foundation that provides a single view of a customer in an accessible manner.
Global insurers are focusing on collecting, storing, and analyzing quality data to gain
valuable insight into customer behavior, improve risk management and underwriting,
and detect fraud and risk patterns.
BI and analytics will significantly help life insurers speed up and control underwriting
costs, while providing improved experiences to the customer and the agents.
Innovative and visionary life insurers are increasingly adding more BI and analytics
capabilities in order to gain heightened intelligence into operational, customer, and
underwriting trends, as well as to improve their regulatory reporting capabilities.
Having more-powerful analysis capabilities will aid life insurers in risk management,
improved underwriting profitability, and better customer intelligence—including
customer segmentation, life stage analysis and profitability metrics—and also allows
insurers to have aggregated and cleansed data to analyze and respond to new
business needs in real time or near real time.
6.3. Implications
Turning data into business information through data warehousing—and leveraging
it to improve profitability—is a growing trend in the insurance industry. Life insurers
are quickly realizing the power of using data to understand performance levels and
trends in their underwriting practices, and the investments in BI and analytics are
therefore rising and are expected to continue to rise during the next five years.
13
the way we see it

15.
1. Gartner, Inc.: “Hype Cycle for Life Insurance, 2012,” Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, 27 July 2012
2. Gartner, Inc.: “Top 10 Technologies With the Greatest Impact on the Life Insurance
Industry,” Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, 27 February 2012
3. International Research Program, LIMRA. Also available at http://www.limra.com/
Research/International/Default.aspx
4. Life & Annuity Insurance Industry Survey Findings Report, Robert E. Nolan Company,
2010. Also available at http://www.renolan.com/lifesurvey/
5. Swiss Re Sigma Reports, Swiss Re, Published annually. Also available at
http://www.swissre.com/sigma/
6. World Insurance Report, Capgemini and Efma, 2012 and 2013 editions
References
15
the way we see it